User:James mckenzie

James McKenzie, born 14 October 1969 in Melbourne, Australia, is an activist journalist and broadcaster. He is a strident critic of conservative governments.

Since 1997, he and Jacqui Brown have co-presented In Ya Face - a queer current affairs program on activist radio station 3CR in Melbourne. The show explores political, cultural and sexuality issues with interviews, music and chat and is widely regarded as Australia's leading queer, social justice radio program.

McKenzie also co-presented Strikeback on 3CR from 1998 to 2005. The program mixed radical trade union and industrial issues with left-wing perspectives on local, national and international politics. The program proved to be a popular lightning rod for talkback callers and McKenzie regularly interviewed militant trade unionists and activists, much to the dismay of big business and politicians, who regularly had the show monitored.

McKenzie also presented and produced Stick Together from 2001 to 2004 for the Community Satellite Network and the show was broadcast to community radio stations around Australia. Before then, he worked as a news editor and journalist for three gay and lesbian newspapers in Melbourne - Melbourne Star Observer, BrotherSister and Melbourne Community Voice.

He studied the prestigious Bachelor of Arts in Journalism at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology but was disillusioned with mainstream journalism by the time he finished the degree and threw himself into using his communication skills to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS issues at the Victorian AIDS Council/Gay Men's Health Centre from 1990 to 1994.

James McKenzie also worked at workers' rights watchdog Job Watch in Melbourne from 1995 to 2000.